UCLA Football Practice Report: October 18
The Bruins were back in business, sporting new emerald scout team jerseys to start preparing for the Ducks.
UCLA football (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) returned to the practice field Monday morning with some notable participants back on the field. Receiver Kyle Philips, who did not travel with the team to Seattle over the weekend, spent the first part of practice playing catch on the sideline while his teammates did special team pursuit drills, but he joined the receivers and ran all the routes once they broke off into that session.
Edge rusher Mitchell Agude missed time and didn't get the start against Washington either, and he had been struggling with minor injuries over the past month or so. He, too, was a full participant with the defensive linemen. Left guard Paul Grattan did not play in the fourth quarter Saturday – coach Chip Kelly chalked that up to rotations, and Grattan was on the practice field Monday.
The cohort of players in the injured area was smaller than it has been in past weeks as well, with a few promising signs across the roster even outside of those three.
Defensive lineman Sitiveni Havili-Kaufusi, running back Christian Grubb, offensive lineman Thomas Cole, receiver Colson Yankoff, offensive lineman Patrick Selna, linebacker Kobey Fitzgerald and offensive lineman Siale Taupaki were all held out again, keeping in line with a lot of last week's absences. Center Sam Marrazzo was out as well, and it looks like he'll continue to be out for an extended period.
Defensive end Quintin Somerville has been out since midway through fall camp, and he remained out Monday. There were signs of progress, however, as Somerville seems to have shed the walking boot that's been on his right foot since August.
Running back Ethan Fernea was again a full participant, wearing a club on his right hand less than a month removed from surgery.
Cornerback Mo Osling and linebacker Kain Medrano spent part of the early sessions over on the sidelines working with trainers, but they eventually rejoined their respective position groups and were participating fully in the non-contact drills open to the media.
Osling was with the first team in coverage during simulated goal line drills later on in practice. He took a few steps back into his zone on the left sideline, but had good enough burst to recover and get to the ball right after a completed pass into the flat. Defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro, who was running the drill, used some colorful language in his praise of Osling.
That drill represented the first time the media saw actual quarterbacks throwing the ball on the near north field since the start of the season. Fifth and sixth string quarterbacks Parker McQuarrie and Kajiya Hollawayne got the reps as the starter, two backups and scout team ace Chase Artopoeus did their work on the other field.
As expected based on their placement on the depth chart, neither McQuarrie or Hollawayne looked particularly sharp. Hollawayne overthrew his man on several occasions, while McQuarrie was picked off twice.
Safety Kenny Churchwell got the first interception camping out over the middle, while cornerback Cam Johnson got the other one in tight coverage in the end zone. Safety DJ Warnell had a nice pass breakup against Hollawayne in the drill as well.
A few other notable takeaways from practice included now 11 players wearing yellow scout team player of the week jerseys, up once again from last week. Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira was also practicing 30-yard field goals without a running start, just swinging his leg, and he hit two of the three attempts we saw.
McQuarrie was wearing a green No. 2 jersey and Hollawayne wore No. 3, so even though we saw them doing work as passers, those numbers both belong to Oregon receivers, so they probably ended up lining out wide for the scout team later on in the closed portion of practice.
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